Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Horace Clinton Johnson Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

Horace Clinton Johnson was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1857 as the son of a spar and mast maker. At age sixteen, Johnson went to work at Mt. Washington Glass Works in New Bedford. Around 1875, he went to sea in the company of Henry Libby, former manager of the works, and began a career in the merchant trade between the United States and Europe. In 1886, the New England Steamship Company hired Johnson for the New Bedford line, and he remained in that post until his retirement in 1932. In addition to his activities as a ship pilot and master, Johnson was also an artist of marked ability. He specialized in creating portraits of many of the great sailing vessels of the era, depicting these ships by using velvet, silk embroidery, applique, and oils. He won much acclaim for his artistic creations as he exhibited and sold them, accompanied by histories of each vessel, until his death in 1933.

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Scope and Content Note

Material in this collection reflects the activities of Horace Clinton Johnson as both a steamship captain and an artist. His involvement with the steamship line is principally reflected by nautical charts, legal documents, and correspondence. The charts, probably drawn by Johnson, are renderings of Long Island Sound and harbor entrances along his route. His legal documents include testimony regarding a collision between the steamship Pequonnock and an oil barge, 1928-1929. Correspondence in the collection features official communiques from the steamship line, dating from 1898-1932. These materials are supplemented by individual pages from Johnson's diary which chiefly discuss his activities aboard ship between 1930-1931.

Johnson's activities as an artist are delineated by patterns and ship histories, 1927-1932, which he used to create his portraits of vessels, and by notations on pages from his diary of 1930-1931. Documents in the collection describing his career as an artist and ship captain include two typescript biographies of Johnson written by his daughter, Anna R. Johnson, in 1960 and 1969, as well as numerous biographical clippings. In addition to materials relating to Johnson's principal activities, this collection contains a copy of his will, 1923; genealogical notes concerning the Johnson family, ca. 1890; and a variety of miscellaneous items, including certificates, membership cards, schedules, notes on crew members, and menus dating from ca. 1877-1933.

Researchers should note that the Old Dartmouth Historical Society manuscript collection also contains five journals which Johnson compiled during merchant voyages, 1875-1880. These volumes, which have been transferred to the log book collection, are described in the separations list concluding this inventory.

Arrangement of Collection

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Information for Researchers

Access to Collections

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 48, [sub-group, series, sub-series, folder/volume as appropriate], [item]

Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the researcher is personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees to indemnify the New Bedford Whaling Museum from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document does not indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead, from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use."

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy law. This institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers, and scanners in the research room.

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Separations List

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Administrative Information

Provenance

The material in this collection was donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Anna R. Johnson in August 1960 and on 14 March 1969.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith Downey, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 04 April 2012; box list appended by Mark Procknik, 08 May 2012

Funds for processing this collection were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Description

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Subject Headings

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